Book of Integration Council New - Ministry of Home Affairs

are free of cost in these schools and such residential schools which are
located in the interior tribal areas. Apart from residential schools, the State
Government is also running hostels for S.T. Boys and Girls in the interior
parts of the State. There are 343 hostels with a capacity of 25725 students.
Currently, 22733 students are availing of this facility. Special emphasis is on
imparting vocational training to the tribals who are dropouts and with a
view to bring them into the mainstream of development, the governement
has setup 56 vocational training institutes, which impart education for 22
separate trades.
Presently, 7635 student are being trained in seven Tribal Districts.
14. The Govt. of India has sanctioned nine English medium residential schools
to impart quality education to the tribal children in Maharashtra. Four such
Schools are being run on the lines of Navodaya Vidyalayas. The cost per
student per annum is Rs. 50,000/-. Govt. of Maharashtra intends to educate
5000 children per year in such schools and 50% of the cost will be met from
the State's funds. I would appeal to the Central Govt. to sanction more such
schools as this will help the tribal children. The Maharashtra Govt. has introduced
the scheme of supplying Uniforms and Writing materials to student of S.C.
and S.T. families, who are studying in Z.P. Primary Schools. Since the attendance
in such Schools was helped to curb the dropout rate, and correspondingly
increase the attendance of student. Each student under this scheme from Class
I to IV is supplied with a set of Uniform and writing material free of cost.
15. I am confident that the sharing of experiences on this occasion among my
colleagues in working for the development and well being of the country's
disadvantaged sections will now lead to deep thought being given to the caste
and identity divisions that have, in recent times, rent the social fabric of the
nation. Common consensus will indeed favour restraint over rhetoric-the question
before us is how can maturity, tolerance and understanding be fostered on
society by example and persuasion rather than administrative fiats or diktats.
The diversity of Indian Society with the different levels of ethnic, cultural,
linguistic and religious plurality is indeed an unique feature of our Nation and
needs to be thoroughly safeguarded as per provisions of the Constitution.
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